Brooke care home chefs get creative with residents’ food
The chefs at Brooke House retirement home in Brooke have been cooking up a surprise for their residents who have difficulty swallowing. The problem, sometimes experienced by people living with dementia, means food has to be liquidised to prevent choking, often making meals look bland and unappetising. However Sue Ramsay and Paul Newson have overcome the problem by using special moulds that make pureed food resemble the real thing.
Mrs Ramsay, who has worked at the Kingsley Healthcare run home for eight years, said they blend down the ingredients using a mixer and then reform them using the moulds. This means pureed sausages and fish look just as they should and even liquidised vegetables such as peas and carrots can be given their proper shape. Mr Newson, who has been a member of the kitchen team for nearly three years, said: “We are still perfecting our use of these moulds but I am sure they will make a huge difference to residents’ enjoyment of food.
“Thanks to our new moulds, people can eat pureed food that looks exactly the same as the meal being eaten by the person next to them. It maintains their dignity and respect. “If they don’t like the look of the food then the residents may not touch it, so that is why it is so important.” Mr Newson said it was also reassuring for the families of residents and showed that staff were prepared to go to any lengths to improve quality of life at the home.
Source: Beccles & Bungay Journal
